The present invention relates generally to traffic information systems, and in particular, to a notification service based on real-time traffic conditions.
Internet-based websites are available that provide travelers with real-time traffic and road construction information. In addition, there are also websites that provide notification to travelers so that they may be automatically warned of abnormal travel times via automatic voice or email messages. For example, TrafficOnline (www.trafficonline.com) provides a personalized service that allows end users to select highway routes and maximum allowable travel times. At user-selected update times, the travel times of the highway routes are computed using real-time traffic data. If the estimated travel time for a route exceeds the user defined maximum travel time, a notification is sent to the user alerting him/her of the abnormally long travel time. The notification is sent by way of email or voicemail.
Although present traffic notification websites provide useful services for some users, they make no provisions for selecting alternative routes. Specifically, an end user is simply notified of abnormally long travel times without any notification of shorter alternative routes. This limits the usefulness of current traffic notification websites.
Another consideration with known traffic notification sites is that they do not automatically select routes between travel endpoints. Instead, an end user manually selects route segments between trip endpoints to specify a complete, (or typically partial, i.e. highway portion only) travel route. This manual technique of entering route information can be inconvenient for some users.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved traffic notification service that can automatically select travel routes and provide notification of alternative routes.